A procedure that lets women take charge of their fertility

Bengaluru: In the recent times, especially in the last five years there has been a rise in social egg freezing. This is the type of egg freezing where a healthy woman, who does not have any medical issue chooses to get her eggs frozen for personal reasons.

Egg freezing is a procedure where eggs from a woman's ovaries are harvested and frozen for later use. This is a method of fertility preservation for women that gives them the ability to get pregnant in the future. Previously egg freezing was prevalent only in cases where the woman had a clinical/medical condition that would affect her ability to get pregnant. For example, women undergoing cancer treatment would choose to go for egg freezing as chemotherapy or radiation would damage their fertility. Freezing the eggs before such treatments would give them the chance to become pregnant in the future.

Speaking to The Hans India, Dr Mahesh Koregol, Infertility Specialist, Nova IVF Fertility, Koramangala, Bangalore said, One of the patient Suma (Name Changed), a divorced woman wanted to get her eggs frozen. Post her divorce she had not found a suitable partner yet and wanted to take her time to choose the right person. Meanwhile she was also aware that her fertility would decrease with her age and she wanted to have the option of having children in the future. She decided to get her eggs frozen, so that she can use those eggs and use her future partner's sperm to become pregnant whenever it was the right time for her.

Another patient, Ashwini (name changed) wanted to focus on building her career before she settled down and got married. She chose to get her eggs frozen as she wasn't ready to get married and also had not found a suitable partner. Freezing her eggs gave her the option of not making the difficult choice of deciding between career and motherhood.

Dr Mahesh Koregol says "There is definitely a rise in the number of women enquiring and opting for egg freezing. Women, especially millennial women want to focus on life goals like education, career, and financial stability before they settle down and get married. Their twenties are directed towards building an independent life for themselves. Many want to be emotionally and financially stable before becoming mothers. Some may not have found a suitable partner with whom they want to spend the rest of their lives."

However, a woman's fertility starts to decline after she hits 30 years of age and goes on to decline rapidly when she turns 35. The biological clock starts ticking and unfortunately their chances of getting pregnant also reduce as the quality and quantity of eggs decreases with age. This is where Social Egg Freezing comes into play. If a woman freezes her eggs say in her late 20s or early 30s, it will give her the time to pursue her life goals before entering the journey of motherhood, said Dr Mahesh.

The process of egg freezing is quite simple. There are three stages i.e., ovarian stimulation, egg retrieval and finally the egg freezing. Women will be discharged after 4 to 5 hours of egg retrieval. The process used to freeze the eggs is called vitrification and is one of the modern techniques which has increased the percentage of viable eggs that can be used after thawing, whenever a woman is ready to use her eggs in future, he said.

Dr Mahesh added, Women face a lot of pressure when it comes to marriage and child- birth. Circumstances force them to choose between personal goals and motherhood. Social Egg Freezing has helped reduce the pressure and anxieties women face when it comes to important life decisions like career, selection of suitable partner and becoming a mother. It has given them a sense of freedom and empowerment, that they can take the time to build their lives, take the time to choose a right partner and not compromise just because their biological clock is ticking and that's an incredibly powerful feeling."